Wingbeats
by dragonridersrock
Summary: There's one dragon egg left. this story is about what happens to it.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

In an empire called Alagasia there were three remaining dragon eggs. There used to be more than just those three, but Galbatorix, the Emperor and an evil Rider, destroyed all the eggs and the dragons, all except for his dragon, Shruikan. The Dragon Riders were a group of people, elves and humans, whom the unhatched dragons decided to hatch for. These chosen people had the ability to work magic, talk with their minds, and had very long lives. Unfortunately, Galbatorix killed all the Riders, except for the thirteen that swore loyalty to him and were called the foresworn, and took their city, Ilirea, for his capital and named it Urubaen.

Almost a century after he killed all the Riders, an egg was stolen from Galbatorix. It hatched for a boy named Eragon (read the story of Eragon in the book Eragon). Almost two years after that, another egg hatched for Murtagh, Eragon's older brother, Murtagh (Read Eldest to find out the continued story of Eragon and Murtagh). This left only one dragon egg.


	2. Chapter 2

Discliamer: I don't own any original Eragon characters. They belong to CP.

**Wingbeats**

There once was a girl named Aiedail who lived in a small village near the border of Surda. It was called Melian. Aiedail was one of the few unmarried girls who lived in the town. She was well liked by the older people in the village, especially the mapmaker who she liked to work with, but didn't get along well with the girls her age. She thought they were immature and stupid, and they thought she was stuck-up and spoiled. But aside from that, Aiedail was a normal seventeen year-old girl. That is, until she started hearing them. The wingbeats. In her head. Everywhere she went, there was always the sound of beating wings in her ears. Not just a small sound, like a bird's wings, but the loud, obvious, and irritating sound of a huge monster.

All the people in her village thought she had gone crazy when she asked who was making that annoying noise, and would they please stop. Even the older people who she had been so friendly with, now started whispering behind her back and not letting her in their stores. Only one person didn't think she was crazy: the old mapmaker, but everyone thought he was crazy too.

Aiedail was walking in the woods one day, trying to take her mind off of the wingbeats, when suddenly, she heard a small voice in the back of her mind say

"Aiedail".

She jumped in surprise, and looked around. Nobody was there.

"Hello", she asked tentatively.

"Aiedail", she heard again, "I'm waiting for you!".

And then the wingbeats returned. Funny, she hadn't even noticed that they were gone even though she had been trying to get rid of them for ages. But there was something comforting about that voice, something that made her forget the wingbeats for a while. It reminded her of something she couldn't place. She knew she had heard that voice before, but she didn't know where.

As she was walking home, Aiedail was so preoccupied with the voice, that she tripped over a bottle on the floor. She picked it up, and was about to pour some of the liquid on her hand, when a voice from the trees called,

"No!". The old mapmaker, Davyn, stepped out onto the path. "Don't touch that", he said, "its Sethir oil, oil made from the leaves of the Sethir plant. It will burn away your flesh if you touch it. Galbatorix's servants must have been here. The Empire is one of the only ones with enough money to buy this." He looked at the bottle, "Anyway, it has their symbol on it.?

"Who's symbol? The Empire's? I've never seen it before." asked Aiedail.

"No, the servants of the Empire. They're called the Ra'zac."

"How do you know all of this?" she asked.

"You know my maps?"

"Of course! You have maps of all of Alagasia." she answered.

Davyn smiled and said "all that I have maps of, I have seen for real"

"That's impossible!", exclaimed Aiedail. "You have maps of Ilirea, the Rider's ancient city. And besides, all your maps have perfect detail, you'd have to-"

"-Have drawn them from the air", he finished for her. "How do you know I didn't?"

"Only Riders could be in the air for so long, and unless you're a R-" she broke off as he winked.

"But you can't be!" exclaimed Aiedail, "The Empire killed all the Riders over a century ago!"

"I survived. Me and my student Brom. But now I have two favors to ask you. One is not to tell anyone what you just learnt, I only survived by hiding."

"And the other?" asked Aiedail.

Davyn reached into a pouch he was wearing, and pulled out a large green egg...

"The next favor is to touch this egg" he said.

Aiedail as soon as she saw the egg that this was where the wingbeats were coming from. Firstly, as she got closer, the wingbeats got louder. And secondly, when she touched it, it cracked, and out came a sea green baby dragon flapping its wings.

Every time it flapped, Aiedail heard a magnified flap in her head. She scowled at the dragon,

"Do you think you could stop that now?", she demanded.

The dragon's only reply was to touch it's snout to her right palm.

"Ouch!" Aiedail exclaimed.

There was now a silvery-white mark on her palm. Then finally, the dragon stopped flapping and the noise in her head stopped too.

"Thank you", she said.

She didn't expect the dragon to answer, but in her mind, she heard, again, a voice saying,

"I am sorry to have irritated you with that noise, but I needed to have a way to tell you and Davyn that you were the one I had chosen."

"So what are you going to name her?"

Aiedail started in surprise. She forgot that he was there.

"Her?", she asked.

"I think it's a her. Why don't you ask?" he replied.

"Yes, I'm a girl." the dragon said, sounding amused.

Davyn thought for a moment. "Can you come up with a name for her?" , he asked.

Aiedail paused, then asked the dragon

"How about Seairra?"

"I like it." purred Seairra.

"She is Seairra. Because as soon as I saw her, she reminded me of the sea, and also because she likes it."

"Well then, that's settled", said Davyn, "Now we just have to train you. I will be your master, and you will address me so."

"Yes Master.", said Aiedail, "When do we start?"

He smiled, and said, "Right now"

Please review and tell me what you think! I'll update soon!


	3. Chapter 3

The Arrival

Aiedail and Davyn trained day and night. He taught her words of the ancient language, the language of power, and she studied and practiced them in every free moment of the day. At night, she went with Davyn to a clearing in the woods behind his store, and they practiced sword fighting with sharpened sticks. One day, while they were fighting, Aiedail delivered such a strong blow, that she split Davyn's makeshift sword. He threw down the pieces and said in a grim voice, "We're done."

"I'm sorry!" cried Aiedail.

Davyn looked puzzled. "For what", he asked, "I can teach you no more with these sticks. I will go back and get us some real swords to practice with."

"But won't we, or you, cut each other to pieces. Master." she quickly added.

"The ancient language has a lot of power" he said smiling.

Then he turned and left the forest.

Aiedail sat and waited for Davyn to return. When she heard footsteps, she quickly got up, and was about to ask what took him so long, when she realized that those weren't Davyn's footsteps. All her senses had become better since she became a Rider. These footsteps were a sort of limp. And there were two pairs. Aiedail quickly went and hid in the bushes where she could see when the two strangers left. She thought they were villagers, which would be bad because most people didn't think a girl should learn swordplay, until she saw them come out of the trees. They were tall, and wore heavy cloaks, despite the heat. One bent down and picked up the discarded pieces of Davyn's broken sword.

"They were here", one hissed.

Aiedail nearly gasped. They weren't human. She remembered what Davyn had told her about the king's Rider hunters, the Ra'zac. They must have found out about us, she thought desperately. I must get back to the village to warn Davyn that they're here.

"You go to the village.", said the smaller one. "I'll stay here to keep guard in case they decide to return."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Eragon belongs to CP

The Fall

Aiedail knew she had to go back to warn the village, and more importantly, Davyn, about the Ra'zac, but she could think of nothing to do.

She was about to give up hope, when she heard Seairra mind-calling to her.

"Are you all right?!" she asked.

Aiedail told her to go warn Davyn that the Ra'zac were coming. Seairra quickly flew off, and Aiedail sat and waited.

It was only after Seairra left that Aiedail realized how stupid that was. Davyn had told her that the Ra'zac were King Galbatorix's personal dragon hunters, and sending Seairra to the village was like walking into their arms.

Aiedail knew that she had to go back to Seairra and try to hide from the Ra'zac. She tried to recall what Davyn had told her about their weaknesses. She remembered him saying something about them not liking water. Aiedail suddenly had an idea. She said the word in the ancient language for water, and focused completely on drawing out the moisture from the ground. It had rained the night before, so she expected there to be maybe a few feet of water, but nothing could have prepared her for the huge flood of water that resulted.

The Ra'zac shrieked and fled, as the water rose and rose. Aiedail realized that it would reach her soon. She turned around to head back to the village, but tripped on a branch. As she fell, she threw out an arm to catch herself, but the forest floor was slippery from the rain, and she landed heavily, rattling her bones. Then the water came, and she blissfully slipped into unconsciousness.

Please review! I'll update soon!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Eragon

**Start of the Journey**

When Aiedail woke up, she found herself in a small, dimly lit room. She sat up with a start, and cried out in pain. Her whole shoulder and collarbone was bandaged.

"Don't sit up!", commanded a voice from the side of her bed. It was Davyn. "What happened?", Aiedail asked drowsily. "When you drew out the water, the strain of the magic knocked you out. It could have killed you! It should have killed you also. I don't know how you did that, and right now, I don't want to. All I want is for you to go to sleep". He got up, left, and closed the door. Aiedail closed her eyes, and once again fell asleep.

Aiedail woke to the sound of arguing. Davyn was talking animatedly with the butcher.

"No, I can't have it tomorrow! I need that order today! It can't wait. I'm going on a long trip, and- oh, Aiedail, you're awake!", he broke off suprisedly.

"A trip?" Aiedail asked. "But what about the Ra-"

"I'm afraid our mapmaking lessons will have to be postponed." he interrupted with a pointed look toward the butcher. "A rather important event came up and I can't refuse. I must leave immediately."

Turning to the butcher, he said, "I will be over in five minutes to pick up my order, I will pay extra for the trouble."

As soon as the butcher left, Davyn came over to Aiedail.

"How long have I been asleep?" she asked.

"Only for four hours" said Davyn.

"What!!!", Aiedail exclaimed. "Four hours!!!"

"There's no time for that now. We have to leave." Davyn said as he put maps, clothes, and other travel necessities in a worn leather pack. "The Ra'zac are looking for you. They will not be any more merciful to you after you nearly drowned one of them." he said with a wry smile.

Aiedail looked down at her hands.

"But they won't catch you.", he added quickly. "Did you hear what I said to the butcher? We really do need to leave immediately.", he handed her a small leather bag.

"Go back to your house and put any possessions you can fit into the bag in here. Don't worry about getting everything, we'll stop in some towns along the way to get supplies. Now go and hurry."

He turned back to his packing and didn't look up even when Aiedail asked where they were going.

Aiedail returned to Davyn's shop a short while later and found him with packages from the butcher, the baker, the smith, the tanner, and many other different workers. She put her bag on her shoulders and helped him carry his load.

" I left a note for my parents telling them that I had to leave for good, and not to be upset. I didn't write where I was going, but only that it was by my own free will that I was going away, and they shouldn't expect me back. I hope that was all right." she said anxiously.

Davyn sighed and said "I should've remembered a note. Thank you."

They walked until the city's gates in silence, and they were about to turn to unlock them when they heard someone yell, "Wait!!".

* * *

**Review!!!!!!!!!!!**

** I'm working on the next ch., but i'm sooooooo busy, so it will take a little longer to update.**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own any original charcters.

**Unexpected Companion**

"Don't leave without me!".

They turned around to see a boy from the village running towards them. He came to a stop when he reached them, and panting, he said, "I thought I'd never catch up to you!"

"Why did you run after us?", Davyn asked.

The boy, Aiedail's childhood friend who's name was Addyn,said, "The strangers came to my family's house.", he paused to get his breath,

"As you know, my family owns a shop that sells precious stones and gems. So when they entered our store, with the house on top, we came rushing down. The strangers showed us a paper that was an order from the king. It said that the king was missing a precious stone about seven and a half inches in length, and weighing approximately eleven pounds. The color of the stone was a sea green. The king was offering six hundred gold crowns as a reward to whoever returned it. The strangers then started looking through all my father's shelves. When my father tried to tell them he had never even seen such a stone, the smaller one turned and kicked him in the chest. Then the monster turned and asked the other if he had found anything and he said no.", he clenched his hand.

"Go on" said Davyn. "And by the way those strangers are called the Ra'zac".

Addyn looked down, and continued. "When he heard that it wasn't there, the str-, I mean the Ra'zac, screeched in fury. The only way I can describe the sound is bloodcurdling. Then he took a torch off our wall and threw it on the wood floor. My family rushed outside, and we realized my father was still in the burning store. My mother told me to wait, and she rushed back inside. By that time, the fire was so big that it had almost reached the chimney. My mother didn't care. She rushed to where my father was, and started to drag him outside. As she reached the door, the ceiling had started to crumble and fall. My father and her were buried underneath the the rubble. When the fire burnt out, we checked the ruins, and we found them. They were dead, and now my siblings and I are orphans.

"But how did you know we were leaving?" Davyn asked.

"When the funeral was over, I went to your home because I knew that Aiedail would be there for her lessons. I heard the whole conversation, and I'm coming with you." Addyn looked at them to see their reaction.

Aiedail was shocked; she hadn't been good friends with Addyn for almost seven years. She looked at Davyn to see his reaction, and saw that he was nodding.

"We'll need someone strong enough to carry our things." he said.

Aiedail was about to protest, but Davyn said "There will be plenty of work for both of you. Anyway, we're going to be busy with magic."

"Great.", said Addyn, "I brought supplies with me in case. Where are we going?"

"We're going to visit one of my old friends", Davyn said with a smile. "She lives in the city of Dras-Leona. We'd better get going."

* * *

Can anyone guess who the friend is?

Hint: next ch will be called 'Meetings', and will become more like the book.

a/n: review the ch and tell me what you think.


	7. Chapter 7

**Dislaimer: I don't own Eragon (really, how many times do I have to say that?)**

The trip to Dras-Leona was long and hard. The group passed through the edge of the Hadarac Desert on the way. During their trip, Aiedail had more time with Seairra then she had ever had in Melian. She flew every day, practicing fighting tactics, and just spending time with her dragon.

"Aiedail!"She heard someone call while she was out flying one day.

"Aiedail! Come down!Davyn wants to tell us something." Addyn called as she and Seairra coasted low, almost landing.

_'Thanks Seairra! It was so much fun flying today! Can we practice that turn tomorrow_?" She asked Seairra as she dismounted.

'_Sure little one.'_

_'Why do you always call me that?'_ complained Aiedail. _'I'm seventeen years older than you! You are the little one, not me!'_

_'Although you are older in body, I am mentaly more mature. But now hurry and see what Davyn has to tell you. I'll try to be back from hunting early so we can fly more._' came the amused reply.

Aiedail took off her saddle, and went to meet Davyn.

**

* * *

I know, a short chappie, but the next one will be longer hopefully. Anyways, REVIEW!!!!!! **


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: For god's sake people! I don't own it!!!!!

**Conversations**

As Aiedail walked into the camp, she noticed there was something wrong. Davyn and Addyn were both grim-faced.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"We spotted a camp of Urgals coming from the west. They're headed toward us and we'll have to make a detour to avoid them."

"How come I never saw them from the air?" Aiedail asked puzzled.

"I guess you were too procupied with flying." Davyn said with a small smile. "I did the same thing once. Nearly flew into a camp of Urgals before I realized."

Addyn, standing under a shady tree,stepped forward and spoke up. "What are we going to do about the Urgals?" he asked. "Where are we going to go?"

"We'll turn North. That direction will still get us to Dras-Leona, but it will take us an extra week."

"Better to get there late than to never get there." Addyn said grimly. ( a/n: he seems like a grim guy)

"He's right." Aiedail said. "Let's get started."

**Author's note: Thanks to all my reviewers ( especialy dragon of spirits). Sorry about the short chapters, I'll try to write longer ones- **Ringwarriorkayla **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! REVIEW!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Just a Little Detour**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Eragon- never did, and never will. BUT... I DO own all the original characters and places- so there.**

They packed their bags, saddled their horses, and erased all traces of their camping. When they were ready, they silently left the camp with Davyn leading.

They rode for an hour straight, until Davyn finally called for a rest.

"We're making better tome than I hoped." he said after they had all taken drinks, "We'll probably be there before nightfall if we continue at this pace."

"Finally!" Aiedail said, "I haven't had a hot bath, or slept in a real bed for months!"

"Actually. it's only been one and a half months." Aiden said, riding up to her.

"Too bad-it's still 'months'" she retorted. "Long, torturous months of no baths, cold food, and hard ground for beds- but it was fun!"

Aiden rolled his eyes, and shook his head in exasperation.

"You're both right", Davyn interrupted, stopping yet another possible argument. "It really has been too ling since we were in a city, and we need more supplies."

"Who is the friend you need to talk to?" asked Aiedail.

"Friends. You'll meet them when we get there, which we won't if we don't hurry. We have to get moving if we want to get there any time in the near future" he reminded them, with a sidelong look at Aiden.

They got back on their horses and rode on in silence with Aiedail deep in thought- was it just her, or was Davyn being a little evasive about these mysterious "friends" of his?

* * *

**SO... WHY is Davyn being evasive- any guesses?**

**As usual- please review!!!!!**

**I was procrastinating writing an essay when I wrote this, so it's a little weird- sorry.**

**Anyway, thanks to my reviewers, and sorry that it's so short- I won't promise that the next one will be longer, but I'll try.**


End file.
